Bushing for covered wires.



H. J. WHFTE. BUSHING FOR COVERED WIRES.

APPLICATION FIIIED FEB-25,1914.

Patented; Jan. 25, 1916.

R 5 m 7 1 a y W W r d, WK 0 j 5 A 6 4 d 7% r l WITNESSES:

HOWARD J. WHITE, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

BUSHING FOR COVERED WIRES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 25, 19163.

Application filed February 25, 1914. Serial No. 820,960. I

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HowARD J. VHITE, a citizen of the United States, residing at San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Bushings for Covered Wires, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to improvements in bushings for holding flexible non' metallic tubing used in electrical installations in boxes, the object of the invention being to provide a bushing which will be comparatively cheap and'simple in construction and which can be easily placed in position.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a vertical section of a box showing my improved bushing surrounding a covered wire entering said box; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the bushing detached; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the blank from which it is formed; Figs. at and 5 are views similar to Figs. 2 and .3 of a modified form of the bushing; Figs. (land 7 are similar views of a further modification.

Referring to the drawing, 1 indicates flexible non-metallic material covering a conducting wire 2 and extending through a hole in a side of a box 3. It is to provide means for preventing this flexible tubing from being withdrawn from the box that I provide my improved bushing. Said bushing consists of a short cylinder 4 formed from a blank 6 of spring metal, such as copper, brass, or steel, and having a slit 7 extending throughout its length. The size of this bushing is such that, in its normal position, it firmly grips the non-metallic flexible covering 1 around which it is placed. To permit said covering 1 to be passed therethrough, it may, by means of a suitable instrument applied to the edges of said slit, cause them to be spread apart, thereby enlarging the diameter of the bushing. When it is released from the pressure exerted by said instrument, the bushing collapses and grips tightly the non-metallic flexible tubing. The bushing, in, can then be inserted in the hole 2 in the side of the box 3, the bushing being arrested in its passage through said hole by a flange 8 extending outwardly from one" end thereof. When said bushing has been passed partly with the covering withthrough the hole, an outwardly bent resilient tongue 9, partly cut out from the bushing, is pressed inwardly until the free rear edge of the tongue has passed within the box, whereupon the tongue springs outward, and thus efl'ectually prevents the bushing from being withdrawn from the box. In this form of the invention there is required a special tool, not commonly used by electricians and others who use these bushings, for the purpose of enlarging the diameter of the bushing.

In the form of the invention shown in Figs. 4 and 5 such special tool is not required, but ordinary pincers can be used. In this form of the invention one side of the blank is oblique to the other side, and adjacent portions 11 of the ends of the blank are extended beyond the slit. Said side is then rolled over to form a thickened portion or flange 12, and to increase the strength of the extended portions 11, which cross each other when the cylinder is formed from the blank. Then by pressing toward each other the ends of said extended portions, with an ordinary pair of pincers such as the electrician uses in his work, the two halves of the bushing may be spread apart from one another so that the flexible covering is readily passed therethrough.

In Figs. 6 and 7 the same result is obtained by rolling the oblique side of the blank over a piece 13 of wire of such length that its ends extend beyond the slit.

I claim 1. A spring of size and shape to encircle a flexible non-metallic conduit and to be held firmly thereon by spring pressure and having parts spaced apart sufiiciently to extend on opposite sides of a hole in a box or the like, the terminal portions of said spring crossing each other and the ends being spaced apart a sufficient distance that, when pressed together, the spring is removed from the flexible conduit sufficiently to permit said conduit to pass freely therethrough.

'2. A bushing consisting of a spring metal cylinder slit longitudinally and having a portion thereof partly cut away and bent outwardly to form a spring tongue, and, at an end thereof, an outwardly extending portion, which and the tongue can engage oppo' site sides of the edge of a hole through a box 01' the like through which the bushing is passed, said bushing having means extending beyond the slit and crossing each other to permit the bushing to be expanded by a pair of pincers applied to the ends of said means.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

HOWARD J; WHITE.

Witnesses FRANCES M. WRIGHT, D. B. RICHARDS. 

